| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

It's all perfectly serviceable -- but it wants for freshness and vitality.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 18, 2008

The likable performances, hot, sweaty atmosphere and decently mounted action scenes make this entertaining fare.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 18, 2008

[It has] a real ring of authenticity in every scene.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2008

City of Men is an intriguing but incompletely developed heir to the far superior City of God.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 29, 2008

Where City of God was ferocious, grandiose, and glamorous, this movie is modest and intimate, acoustic where the other was desperate to electrify.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 29, 2008

The story might have been lifted from an old Warner Brothers melodrama, though it's smartly paced, sincerely delivered, and consistently absorbing.

| Feb 29, 2008

Along comes a sequel of sorts, City of Men, but the difference is clear right from the first frame: Meirelles is gone and so is the intensity. What's left is a mix of credible sociology and tired melodrama, along with a palpable sense of déjà vu.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 29, 2008

Though the histrionics of City of Men are a bit obvious, and it lacks the bravado of City of God, it's ultimately a more rewarding film.

Full Review | Feb 29, 2008

Our investment in their plight is ultimately enough to withstand the contrivance of the plot thread that tightens and tests the young men's relationship.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 29, 2008

The movie's power comes less from its contrived story than everything else: the stark setting, chaotic energy and authentic cast.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 29, 2008

Performances are up to par, but the story unfolds conventionally -- it lacks the fragmented fury of its predecessor. You might call it City of God Lite.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 29, 2008

A compelling and visually arresting drama from Brazil.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 29, 2008

There are moments in City of Men that feel so vividly accurate that you may find yourself ducking from the gunfire.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 29, 2008

While Men is not as energetic or bracing as God, it is a disturbing exploration of violent drug culture in Rio's shantytowns. It's also a poignant look at the legacies of fathers who abdicate their responsibilities.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 29, 2008

This is an engrossing film, partly because the director pulls the camera back from time to time to mitigate the occasional effect of claustrophobia and to remind the audiencehow stunning the landscape is.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 29, 2008

City of Men is a rootin'-tootin' gangster movie shot in the notoriously lawless shantytowns overlooking the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 29, 2008

Still, City of Men is a very good film on multiple levels, not the least of which is that the relationship between Ace and Wallace is continually intriguing, emotional and dynamic.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 28, 2008

City Of Men has its share of problems, but being too entertaining isn't one of them. The film isn't bad by any means, but after God's adrenaline-shots-to-the-heart rush, the laid-back storytelling comes off as a little sleepy.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 28, 2008

Shot in a gritty, kinetic style that captures the colorful squalor of a neighborhood dubbed Dead-End Hill, City of Men is in many ways a more satisfying piece of storytelling than City of God.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 28, 2008